The Mystery of the Secret Admirer
by blackindiaink
Summary: Mystery invades Beca's life as gifts from a secret admirer start showing up. Can she figure out who it is? From a Tumblr prompt.
1. Caffeine and Mixes

Beca trudged up the steps to her dorm, practically dragging her exhausted body up the last two and through the door. Between running Bellas practice and trying to actually keep up with classes she was so busy she hadn't slept properly in weeks. Even though she had all this new responsibility she refused to give up putting time aside for mixing because it was that important to her. Priorities always switched when you started college, she knew that, but she would not give up her long held goal of becoming a music producer.

The only person who really seemed to encourage her was Chloe, probably because she was genuinely impressed with the mixes that Beca had let her listen to. At first she had been nervous about letting Chloe hear them because her opinion really mattered, she was actually very knowledgeable about music. She and Jesse were the only friends at school who had heard her stuff but somehow it felt more personal when she had handed over her headphones to the redhead. Sometimes she hated how eager she was for Chloe to approve of her. It made her vulnerable and that was a feeling she hated because of her past experiences.

When she topped the last flight of inside stairs she could see her door all the way down at the end of the hall. It looked so far. She took a break and leaned against the wall, bemoaning the aching feeling in her head. She hadn't had much caffeine since she had been too busy to stop at her usual time. It was taking a toll on her since she usually had three cups of coffee and a redbull in her system by now.

Her eyes focused on an object. She squinted her eyes, as if that would help her make out what it was and leaned forward. It appeared to be right in front of her door. It was small and box like. Her mind flashed back to the recent bomb threat that some idiot had called in as a prank. She laughed at herself and dismissed the thought. Not even Aubrey hated her that much.

"Might as well find out," she muttered and proceeded to walk down the hall. When she was close enough she realized that the square shape was a to go drink carrier with a coffee in one of the open areas and in the one diagonal from it was a tiny glass vase with a three freshly picked wildflowers. The final item was a medium sized blue envelope. She picked up the carrier and inspected the cup. It was from her favorite coffee shop off campus and the words, americano - xtra shot x 2 - Beca, were inscribed on the side.

She was perplexed, obviously someone hadn't left this that long ago because heat still radiated from the cup. She shifted the carrier to her other hand and opened her dorm room. Angling her shoulder just right, she let her bag slide to the floor and against the bed and walked over to the desk so that she could get a better look at the mystery gift. Something hard, thin and square pressed into her hand as she picked up the envelope.

Inside she found a cd case decorated skillfully with shiny blue paper that bore writing. If it wasn't for it being handwritten and drawn on, it would have looked like a professionally manufactured cd. Inside was a disc, also decorated in blue with writing. She closed the case and read the front. _A Mix For the Mix Mistress_ She flipped it over and saw that on the back was a track list.

A note fell out of the envelope when she turned it over. She looked down and picked it up, unfolding it and reading as she rose.

_I've seen how tired you've been lately and I thought that you could use a pick me up. I hope you like the songs because every one of them reminds me of you. 3 Your secret admirer._

"What the hell," she said to the empty room. How could she have a secret admirer. Her mind quickly filed through all the possibilities. It had to be someone that knew her because of the references to her mixes and her favorite coffee, or it could be someone who had asked her friends for the information and then swore them to secrecy.

The list of friends who knew those things was pretty short; Jesse, Chloe, Aubrey, the rest of the Bellas. Now, as for people that she wasn't so close to, that list was pretty infinite. It could be someone from another a cappella group, someone in one of her classes that she talked to, or that friend of Chloe's that had asked about her forever ago.

As mysteries went this was a pretty good one. She fell into her desk chair and considered the issue further. She was really going to have to put her sherlock hat on to solve it. With that in mind, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and texted Jesse. He probably wouldn't admit it right away if it was him but she thought she might try anyway.

_Beca: Jesse... did you leave coffee, a cd, and some flowers by my door and sign the note as a secret admirer?_

_Jesse: No, I did not._

_Beca: Are you sure? Because it seems like a very you thing to do._

_Jesse: Haha. No, I promise it wasn't me. :-)_

_Beca: Ooookay, I'm going to believe you... I think_

_Jesse: Now, I wish I had thought of that. Clearly, you're intrigued._

_Beca: Yeah, whatever. Anyway, thanks._

_Jesse: LOL sure._

She actually believed him even though he was her number one suspect. He was the only one that had actually shown interest in her besides the creepy guy that knew Chloe. She had been trying to remember his name to no avail, maybe Jim or Jake. There was no telling because Chloe knew so many people. They tended to flock to her because of her bright, bubbly personality and easy going nature.

She took a sip of the coffee and popped the cd into her computer, which automatically ripped the tracks. She would have to investigate further tomorrow because she really had to write this paper but she knew that the puzzle would haunt her until she found out. Sighing, she resigned herself to being in the dark for the foreseeable future.


	2. Tickets and Tim Tams

**I've been remiss! Apologizing... will that get me somewhere? Thanks guys! I hope you enjoy. **

**Kylyn, I wish you luck with your profile getting. Thanks for dropping by. **

**Jamie Valdez, I hope the cat will do. **

* * *

A week later Beca walked into her Monday afternoon World Geography class ten minutes early as usual. She hated showing up to class after everyone else had already polluted the aisles with their booby traps masquerading as backpacks and purses. Since she always sat at the back she had to navigate her way around and through them to get to an acceptable seat, one that was on the very back row and right in the center so it afforded the least amount of chance to get called on. Not that the professor usually called on anyone. He was that teacher that everyone had in lower level classes that wrote an outline on the board and just repeated everything verbatim from notes he had compiled fifty years ago when he had started teaching the class.

She walked past the chairs until she saw her desk and stopped. There was something sitting in the seat. She looked down puzzled but carried on walking towards the desk. When she arrived she realized that it was a basket covered in dark decorative paper so that she couldn't see what was inside. It was twisted and tied off at the top with blue ribbon that fell in curly waves down the side of the paper.

She was startled when someone sat down at the front of the class and let their bag drop to the floor beside their desk. She turned around self consciously and then quickly laid the basket on the floor behind the desk. Waiting to see what it contained was going to be torture but this professor had a strict attendance policy and she had already missed two of her allotted three absences. The class was filling up and the professor was taking his place in front of the white board so she got her notebook out and prepared to pretend to actually pay attention.

Forty-five minutes she was going mad. Dr. Heller was still droning on about the formation of the European Union and all she could think about was the basket and what was in it. Her pen tapped incessantly against the blank page of her notebook until the girl sitting beside her shot her a dirty look. She sighed and gave up, slipping her notebook and pen into her messenger bag. She stood up making sure that the professor was facing the board. Hopefully, he wouldn't notice she was gone and change his mark in the attendance record that he meticulously kept.

Sneaking out with the basket proved harder than she thought because the paper crackled loudly when she picked it up. She winced and looked around. No one seemed to even notice so she went on as quickly as possible not even stopping when the basket hit the back of the door that she was escaping through with a bang. She breathed a sigh of relief and set the basket down on a chair outside the door. The hallway didn't seem like the best place to tear into the paper so she speed walked back to the dorm, keeping her head down in case she saw anyone that she knew and this time it wasn't just because she had a disdain for small talk.

Once she was safely in her room she set the basket on the bed while she shed her bag and headphones. It was pretty big and kind of heavy. She approached it and worked at the knot in the ribbon but whoever had tied it had obviously not wanted it to come loose so she started ripping at the paper in frustration. There was layer after layer of it and it was thick, high quality paper so it was hard to get through. When there was finally enough of a hole in it for her to see the inside she knelt down and inspected the contents.

On top she found a stuffed cat that she would never admit to a living soul that she found incredibly adorable and hug worthy. She placed it on her bed and went back to the basket. She found a box of her favorite cookies, Tim Tams, which were kind of harder to come by in the US and another mix CD decorated in the same manner as last time. Behind that were her favorite gummy candies from Japan. Someone had gone through a lot of trouble to get her some of her favorite treats. There were also hot cocoa packets and black licorice. Her hand grazed something very soft at the bottom of the basket. She reached down and pulled it out.

It was a small t-shirt with a graphic on the front. The black fabric was the backdrop for the outlines of trees that covered it from the collar to what would be the forest floor on the bottom of the shirt. In the middle were subtle splotches of color that looked like there were multicolored lights shining from far away in the forest and under the trees were the words; Interstellar Highway Traveler.

It was the name of one of her favorite bands but how had this person gotten this shirt. It was impossible, the band didn't even sell these on their website or at their shows but it was similar to the main graphic off of their one and only EP. It had to be made by whoever had left her the basket, but the quality of the graphic was professional. She dug around and found a few more miscellaneous food items but then came back to the shirt. It really was amazing.

She turned it around and an envelope fell off the back. She bent down to pick it up and looked inside. She took the note out and unfolded it. Just a little tour around the world for your taste buds and something for you to wear when we go to the concert together. - Your Secret Admirer

She looked inside the envelope again and saw that there were tickets to the next show that the band was having in town inside. She checked the date on the ticket. The show was in a month. Surely, it wouldn't take her that long to figure out who it was or for them to reveal themselves.

The basket itself had contained no clues but whoever it was must like her an awful lot to make such an effort to win her over. This time they had demonstrated either a very intimate knowledge of her habits. It was getting kind of spooky.

* * *

At Bellas practice the next day she took Chloe aside. "Hey, I got another secret admirer gift yesterday," she said.

If it was possible to have a more excited facial expression Beca wasn't sure how but Chloe managed to top herself on every such occasion. If she was feigning surprise then she was a very good actress. Beca had tried to probe a little after she had received the first gift to see if there was an outside chance that it was Chloe leaving the gifts but the redhead had passed her inspection with no residual suspicion.

"Oh my god, what was it this time?"

"Some of my favorite foods that were mostly imported, a t-shirt from one of my favorite bands, which they had to have made since I'd have bought that in a second if they were selling them, and tickets to a show for that band. Oh, and another mix CD. Oh, and a stuffed cat. The note they left told me to wear the shirt when I go to the concert... with the secret admirer."

Once again Chloe showed no sign whatsoever that she was or knew anything of the secret admirer. Beca sighed and resigned herself to the ever lengthening unknown.

"And you still have no idea who it is," Chloe asked seriously.

"Nope, I'm clueless as usual," Beca said with a frown. "You're sure you have no ideas?"

Chloe shook her head solemnly. "Where did they leave it this time?"

"It was sitting on my desk chair in World Geography. I sit in the same seat every single class so I guess they've noticed." She shrugged and considered who was in the class with her. There were only two people that she had ever had any conversation with. "There's this girl in that class... Julie, I think. She complimented me on my tattoo once but we never really talked that much. I think she knows Cynthia Rose"

Chloe grinned and gently smacked her with the back of her hand. "Hey, maybe it's her who knows, maybe she asked Cynthia Rose and she told her what to get you."

Beca laughed, "Or she's just a really good guesser," she said.

Chloe frowned. "And you're certain it isn't Jesse?" She had seen how he seemed to show up everywhere.

Beca had considered the notion that he was just playing it off (really well) and that at the end of this whole thing he would just pop up out of a cake or something equally cheesy and tell her that it was him all along but she really was starting to believe him this time. "It's don't think it's him, and I hope it isn't because that would be super awkward"

Chloe tried to subtly fish a little more. "Why awkward?" Clearly Jesse had a huge crush on Beca and she just wanted to make sure that there were no feelings on Beca's side. After all, she knew what an unrequited crush did to a person.

"Since I don't feel the same way he does," she replied.

"Oh," Chloe said, smiling slightly. "That's too bad... for him."

That smile, it plagued Beca. It was like Chloe was happy that she wasn't ito Jesse. Before she could think any more about it Aubrey calle practice to order. They worked on their new choreography for the next hour and a half, all the while Beca kept shooting glances over at Chloe.

Whenever they would stop for a break she tried not to concentrate on it but a new feeling of hope blossomed in her. It didn't help that Chloe had caught her looking once and winked playfully. She must look like an idiot, she decided when Aubrey ended the torture and they were all allowed to leave.

Chloe caught up to her as she was leaving the room and walked out with her. "You should let me know if you get any clues about your secret admirer. I'm extra intrigued now that they've put this concert idea into play."

Beca's brow wrinkled and she lifted her bag further up on her shoulder. "Yeah, it's pretty amazing but I can't help but think why go to all this trouble. Why not just come out and say, hey, I like you and get it over with," she sniffed, " I just hate surprises sometimes."

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe they just want to show you how special they think you are and if you ask me you're worth a little trouble." She nudged Beca with her elbow and walked on ahead, turning around to walk backwards as she was leaving. "Everyone needs a little mystery in their lives. Just enjoy it." She turned around and walked down the path leaving Beca standing just outside the building door. "Text me," Chloe called as an afterthought and waved her hand in the air in a parting gesture.

"Okay," Beca replied absently. The way Chloe spoke about the secret admirer made her negative thoughts about it subside. Maybe she should just enjoy the fact that someone liked her enough to do all these things for her, but her paranoid nature prevented her from completely giving herself over to the positive. She knew one thing; if she had to wait a whole month to find out who this was she was definitely going to develop a complex.


End file.
